Kenneth A. Hersh, Ex-Officio

President and Chief Executive Officer,

George W. Bush Presidential Center

Kenneth A. Hersh is president and chief executive officer of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

In this role, he leads the organization on both near term priorities and long term strategic planning to sustain the excellence of the Bush Center’s important work and dynamic programming.

Mr. Hersh is also chairman of NGP Energy Capital Management, a private equity firm he co-founded in 1988 that has grown to over $15 billion in cumulative committed capital under management. Since 2012 he has also served as a senior advisor to The Carlyle Group, a global asset management firm, where he assists in the execution of the firm’s natural resources investment strategies. He currently sits on the Investment Committees of the NGP and Carlyle natural resources and infrastructure funds.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Council of the American Enterprise Institute, and the World Economic Forum. He serves on the Dean’s Council of the Harvard Kennedy School and served on the Advisory Council of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business from 2009 through 2015. In 2014, Mr. Hersh was recognized as Master Entrepreneur of the Year for the Southwest Region by Ernst & Young during its Entrepreneur of the Year program. He is a frequent lecturer at industry functions on topics relating to the energy, corporate finance, and private equity sectors.

Mr. Hersh is also involved in the nonprofit arena on a personal basis and through the efforts of The Hersh Foundation, his family’s private foundation. In 2010, he founded the Global Adaptation Institute which today has become the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN) where he serves as a member of its advisory board. ND-GAIN is focused on helping the world adapt to population growth, economic development, urbanization and climate change. In addition, he serves on the board of the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues.

A Dallas native, Mr. Hersh serves on the boards of the Communities Foundation of Texas, Baylor Health Care System Foundation and the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. He is also a member of the Dallas Citizens Council. From 1998 through 2015, Mr. Hersh served on the board of St. Mark’s School of Texas, his alma mater, where he held numerous positions, including President. In 2015, Mr. Hersh received the St. Mark’s School of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Prior to co-founding NGP, Mr. Hersh was employed by the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley & Co. where he was a member of the firm’s energy group specializing in oil and gas financing and merger and acquisition transactions.

Mr. Hersh graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Politics from Princeton University. He earned his M.B.A. degree from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar. Mr. Hersh and his wife Julie have two college-age children who both attend Northwestern University.